General systems theory

Acronym

Alternate name(s)

Main dependent construct(s)/factor(s)

Output

Main independent construct(s)/factor(s)

Input, throughput, feedback, control, environment, goals

Concise description of theory

Systems theory was proposed in the 1936 by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy, and further developed by Ross Ashby. von Bertalanffy was both reacting against reductionism and attempting to revive the unity of science. He emphasized that real systems are open to, and interact with, their environments, and that they can acquire qualitatively new properties through emergence, resulting in continual evolution.

Rather than reducing an entity (e.g. the human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g. organs or cells), systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a whole (cf. holism). This particular organization determines a system, which is independent of the concrete substance of the elements (e.g. particles, cells, transistors, people, etc).